Danish investors buy Adirondack land

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March 30, 2009

<a href="mailto:kdedam@pressrepublican.com">By KIM SMITH DEDAM</a> The Press Republican Mon Mar 30, 2009, 07:23 PM EDT

KEENE VALLEY — A Denmark group that runs a pension fund now owns timber rights to 92,000 Adirondack acres.

ATP Timberland Invest K/S, part of Denmark’s largest pension fund, invested $32.88 million with Regions Morgan Keegan Timberland of Birmingham, Ala., to purchase former Finch, Pruyn & Co. land.

A conservation easement agreement from the state will add tens of millions of dollars more to the deal, eventually dissolving subdivision and development rights on the Danish investment, which sprawls from North Hudson to Indian Lake and Blue Mountain Lake, touching into six counties.

MONTHS-LONG EFFORT

The sale was final Monday, dividing the 161,000-acre former Finch, Pruyn forest, which has been held in timber management for 142 years.

The sale brings closure to more than half the resale plan wrought by the Nature Conservancy in 19 months.

Henrik Gade Jepsen, CEO of ATP Timberland Invest K/S, issued a statement Monday saying the property was precisely what they were looking for.

“It meets the high standards of our pension fund’s commitment to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment and it fits perfectly in our portfolio investment strategy.”

ATP Group, based in Hilleroed, Denmark, is billed as the fourth-largest pension program in Europe, with 4.5 million members and reporting assets of $70 billion in 2008.

EASEMENT HELPED

Mike Carr, executive director of the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, said the state easement made the land affordable for the buyers.

“The $32.88 million is $357 an acre for the restricted fee title. They are just buying timber rights here; it’s the reason they are buying it for cents on the dollar.”

The wilderness holding features some 274 miles of rivers and streams, many feeding into the headwaters of the Hudson River.

The Nature Conservancy paid $110 million in 2007 for the entire Finch, Pruyn property.

PUBLIC ACCESS

Some 65,000 of the acres left will be added to the Forest Preserve over the next two years, Carr said, providing eventual public access to untouched wilderness areas.

More than 1,000 sportsmen currently pay for exclusive use of some of the lands through leaseholder agreements, which support the tax payments.

Several Adirondack towns will buy parcels for community projects, housing and recreation trails.

Another 3,000 acres is still in private negotiations.

STEADY INCOME

The sale will deliver steady return on investment, Carr said of the financial scheme.

“This is not some crazy, high-risk, 30-percent investment strategy. The trees grow regardless of what the economy does, and you can time the harvest to when the market comes your way.”

Regions Morgan Keegan will continue to supply the Finch, Pruyn pulp mill in Glens Falls in an 18-year fiber-supply agreement, keeping logging crews at work in the woods.

Towns within and bordering the vast forest tract have been consulted through the course of planning. Newcomb, in Essex County, has the most acreage involved.

Newcomb Town Supervisor George Canon gave Carr credit for working through a maze of options.

“We didn’t know what to expect when the Nature Conservancy bought the Finch lands,” he said in a statement. “I give them a lot of credit for listening and working with us on snowmobile trails and other opportunities.”

All 27 towns have given a green light to move forward with the plan, Carr said. The towns can veto Environmental Protection Fund spending for state forest lands.

E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at:

kdedam@pressrepublican.com